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The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has a few uses for a used Christmas tree that most folks would never think of.
Sink it, beach it, mulch it or pile it up for wildlife, DNR says.
In rural areas, Christmas trees can serve as erosion control or brush piles to provide resting and escape cover for small animals, such as quail and rabbits, or birds, such as sparrows, tow- hees and wrens.
Brush piles should be mound- or teepee-shaped, DNR says, with the biggest pieces forming the base and layers of small limbs and branches added as filler. The base should consist of sturdy trunks or limbs to allow adequate escape entrances at ground level.
Biologists with the DNR Freshwater Fisheries Section use discarded Christmas trees to maintain fish attractor sites, which are marked by buoys at all major reservoirs in South Carolina.
On a lake bottom, the trees provide purchase for small aquatic plants. The plants attract organisms. The organisms are eaten by small fish. The small fish are eaten by big fish.
Don't sink the tree yourself. Call DNR at 953-9300, or the state office in Columbia at (803) 734-3886.
If you want to grind your tree up for mulch, call the Keep America Beautiful recycling hotline at (800) 768-7348. Local Keep America Beautiful committees and some state parks offer tree grinding at no charge after the holidays.
You can take the mulch home and use it for flower beds and gardens or around trees and shrubs.
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